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------------- St. Basil (330–379 AD) considered Communion in the hand a “grave fault.” The Council of Saragozza (380 AD): “It was decided to punish with excommunication anyone who dared to continue the practice of Communion in the Hand.” Council of Rouen (650 AD): “Do not put the Eucharist in the hands of any layperson, but only in their mouths.” Council of Constantinople (695 AD): prohibited the faithful from giving Communion to themselves and decreed an excommunication of one week’s duration for those who did so in the presence of a bishop, priest, or deacon. St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274): “Out of...

Thom Shanker's story in the Sunday New York Times explores how post-9/11 commitments will require a rethink of the National Guard and National Reserves in defese planning: The National Guard and Reserves must be fundamentally revamped if they are to carry the growing burden placed on them in support of the administration's military strategy, according to many commanders, Pentagon officials and respected national security experts. With hundreds of thousands of these citizen-soldiers having deployed in the combat zones of Afghanistan and Iraq, and others engaged in missions related to the global campaign against terrorism overseas and here at home, these...

The July 4th weekend was a disaster for Kerry. Pushed on the issue of abortion in heavily Catholic midwest towns - Kerry was coming up with quotes like: "I don't like abortion, I believe life does begin at conception. But I can't take my Catholic belief, my article of faith, and legislate it on a Protestant or a Jew or an athiest...who does not share it. We have seperation of Church and State in the United States of America." Kerry spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter says, "John Kerry says he believes abortion should be legal..." If Kerry squares his voting record with...

My Dear Lay Ministers: Attached to this letter you will find a document entitled, “Giving Testimony to the Truth”. You will also find an Affirmation of Personal Faith. I beg you to read and study these in the same concerned spirit with which they are written. I can assure you that though the document is very instructive and directive it is not generated as a result of a doubt about your moral uprightness. In spite of the fact that I have every confidence in you I also have a responsibility before God to be a Shepherd and a Teacher. I...

No Room for the 'In' The situation developing in St Augustine, FL is actually quite humorous. As I noted before, the Bishop of St Augustine, Victor Galeone, has rescinded the invitation to the Episcopal Diocese of Florida to conduct the consecration of their new coadjutor bishop in one of the larger Catholic Church buildings. The reason is that the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Frank Griswold, is planning to preside. The current Episcopal Bishop, Stephen Jecko, enjoys a very cordial relationship with the Catholics. He is one of the Episcopalians who is furious with the leadership of his church...

Florida Episcopalians, Catholics at Odds By RON WORD Associated Press Writer JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP)--Local Episcopal and Roman Catholic leaders were trying to heal a rift between the two denominations Thursday that developed when the Catholics rescinded an invitation to let the Episcopalians use one of their churches for a bishop's installation. The Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine took back the invitation over a disagreement with the Episcopalians over homosexuality. Specifically, Catholic officials were upset that the Episcopal Church's presiding bishop, Frank Griswold, defended his church's confirmation of a gay bishop in New Hampshire in an interview with The Associated Press....

German Cardinal Says Pope 'In a Very Bad Way' Tue September 30, 2003 08:23 AM ET BERLIN (Reuters) - Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the German head of the Vatican body which oversees doctrinal matters, was quoted on Tuesday as saying Pope John Paul was in very poor health and the faithful should pray for him. "He is in a very bad way," Ratzinger told Germany's Bunte magazine in an interview. "We should pray for the pope." Ratzinger, who heads the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, told the magazine that the 83-year-old pope had taken on too much, but...

It didn't fly high and it didn't fly swiftly, but The Spirit of Butts Farm made it all the way from Canada to Ireland with a few drops of fuel to spare, a group of model airplane enthusiasts say. They are hoping for a distance record for the flight of 38 hours, 23 minutes over 1,888.3 miles by a model plane that weighed just 11 pounds when it took off from Newfoundland. For Dave Brown, who was at the controls for Monday's landing at Marrin Beach in County Galway, it was a great moment. ``A great cheer went up when...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- March 13-464, 2003 Shop grounded By Jason Green A closed sign sits in the window of Clanton's Hobby Shop. It's been there for three weeks and now it sits next to a recently placed for sale sign. Store owner Ricky Ritch said that he had little choice but to close his business when the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials asked him to stop selling remote control airplanes, rockets, helicopters and fuel containing more than 20 percent nitroglycerin. On Wednesday, Ritch received a visit from the Justice department, the Homeland Security department and...